Every Time it Rains I Think of You
by Ibrahim Robinson
Summary: The second story in the romantic miniseries starring Barbara Gordon and Kaldur'ahm. Nearly a year after the events of Cocoa, Kisses, and Foreplay Kaldur and Barbara reunite and finally come to terms with the events that separated them after the first story in the series. With Barbara and Kaldur finally able to profess their love for each other.
1. Chapter 1

_**Everytime it Rains I Think of You**_

Barbara never thought that thunderstorms would be on the list of things that brought tears to her eyes but the storm passing through Gotham officially made the list. Hell she never would have thought a thunderstorm could've been classified as sad and sorrowful but, they were cause they always caused her to think of Kaldur. She always saw him in-between the lighting and the thunder. She opened her window and held her arm out letting the water hit and fill her palm until it overflowed. She closed her eyes and imagined the way his body felt pressed against hers. The way he would whisper her name in her ear, damn the way he whispered her name in her ear really made weak in the knees. She even remembered the way he would groan when she would licked just the right spot in-between his gills. She told herself she wasn't going to cry that she wasn't going to let a single tear fall but, just like the rain fell outside her window so did her tears.

_Eleven months ago:_

"Now let's go save the world."

She wouldn't forget those words. After all Kaldur was half-naked when he said them. All while trying to get his erection to subside. She never wanted to forget that sight. She still had shivers at the mere thought of it.

Then everything went to hell in a hand basket. That all points bulletin that they received turned out to be about an invasion force of parademons promptly followed by their leader Darkside. Boomtubes were appearing all over the globe. The heavy hitters of the League were to go toe to toe with Darkside himself while everyone else took a section of the planet to defend it against the parademons.

The parademons themselves were captives harvested from other planets that were conquered by Darkside and used as raw biology material to create mindless synthetic organisms. Basically the perfect killing machines. Darkside would wipe their minds taking away all their memoirs of friends and families. He then pumped their organic tissues with "Dark Matter" which was a steroid that mutated them from a humanoid form to a raging brute. A full fledged metahuman with a wide list of super powers to boot. Every team was called in the Birds of Prey, Titans, Team Justice, even the Suicide Squad.

Kaldur insisted on going with Barbara's team. That left Grayson a little suspicious but, when you have Darkside breathing down your planets neck you don't ask questions about why your former fiancée wants to team up with her old team leader at what could very well be the end of the world.

The past and future tense of the story is a lot of people died but, they saved the world or the majority of it. There was just one problem King Orin a.k.a. Aquaman was among the list of the seriously injured. That made the Atlanteans walk away from the international table of the United Nations . They didn't like the fact that their king was injured protecting the surface people or the land dwellers which ever they preferred was the best racial slur for them that day. That's why Barbara hasn't seen Kaldur'ahm in nearly a year. That's why she cries when it rains now.

_Atlantis:_

"Your people need you… you bastard."

"I don't give a damn Garth, they have you and Tula."

"Kaldur the kingdom, your kingdom needs you! And your willing to give it all up for some surface dweller, some slut you…"

Garth never finished that sentence because Kaldur's fist hit his jaw. Dropping him to the ground in an instant.

"I don't care if you're my brother or not you call Barbara by anything but, her name again I will hurt you."

"You love her don't you?", Garth said wiping the blood from his mouth and standing back up.

"Barbara Gordon is very… important to me!

"More important then your people?"

"A king needs a queen and Tula loves you Garth."

"You're the oldest Kaldur it's your birthright!"

"Garth we were adopted because we were orphaned during the civil war and the queen was barren and royal family took pity on us."

"So you're leaving us then?"

"Garth… Atlantis needs a king the surface… they need an Aquaman."

"So is this goodbye brother?"

"I believe so brother."

With that Garth wondered if he you every see Kaldur again.

_Gotham City 24 hours later:_

She thought the knock on her door would've been her dad or a friend she wasn't ready for the surprise of who it actually was behind her door.

"Kaldur!"

He looked different of course nearly a year will do that to a person. He had dreadlocks and most of them were tied atop his head in a traditional samurai topknot. Still all she could do was jump through the door and embrace him holding him in there in her arms while she checked to make sure she wasn't dreaming again. She got her answer when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Kal? I missed you so much…

Her words were cut off due to Kaldur's lips. Her words were replaced by moans as Kaldur kept up his assault upon her lips until even he was breathless.

"My apologies Barbara I shouldn't have assumed that after eleven months that I would be welcomed to do that…"

His words were cut off by Barbara's lips promptly recapturing his.

"Eleven months is a long time but, not long enough" Barbara said snuggling into his chest. I missed you so much Kal."

"I have missed you too."

"So Orin is dead."

"You don't sound surprised?", Kaldur said sitting beside her in her apartment a few minutes later.

"Bruce figured it out about three months in. I deduced it when the Atlanteans withdrew from the U.N."

"And the rest of the league?"

"They are more worried about war", she said leaning upon him.

"The may have their worries in the right place."

"What?!"

"When our King died… our people became consumed with the thought of vengeance… even now some call to strike the surface world while there is still so much of it still in disrepair."

"What made them stop?"

"Me."

"…"

"As the oldest of the adopted sons of King Orin and Queen Mera I was next in line for the crown."

"What?!"

"…"

"Well that kind of makes it's hard to be mad at you when you were holding off world war three single handily isn't. Well not that I hate that you came back here but, why are you here if you were the only thing standing in the way of us and war?"

"To be king… I had to take a bride."

"Oh… so is this more of a good-bye rather then a hello kind of thing.", Barbara said choking back the hurt in her voice.

"Barbara I gave away the rights to the crown to my brother Garth. I couldn't give my heart to someone I didn't love. So however long I may have… I want to spend it with the one person that has been at the forefront of my mind for over a year… the only person I could ever give my heart to… to you."

"That doesn't get you off the hook… you know", she said choking back tears.

Barbara turned her head, just like Kaldur she had chanced in a years time. Her hair was longer down past the back pass her waist and she used that long hair to hide the tears that raced down her face. After all it was just her and Kaldur when they were surround by parademons a year ago. She still remembered that moment. Wrapped in a water force field with nothing left in her utility belt but, a single anchor it was a miracle it held them both when she grappled them out of the open for a tactical retreat.

She stood up and walk over to the kitchen bar and clumsily fiddled with her I-phone shuffling through her music cache playing a variety of artist such as Coldplay, Adam Levine, Adele, and even Aaron Lewis until Kaldur stood up and walked up behind her holding her still in his arms. While the I-phone landed on an Ed Sheeran loop.

"Barbara I don't need music… all I every needed was you."

"Kal… things like this never happen to me. I mean sure there is a guy usually chasing me a but, a white knight to save me from the burning tower… that's just to good to be true you know?"

"Burning tower?"

"It just a metaphor I use for my life. I haven't told you everything about me… you see some pretty bad things have happen in my life Kal You know that my dad has always worked for Major Crimes. Chicago, New York, now Gotham. He would never talk about a case but, the files were always there… left out in the open. It didn't matter in the living room or the den maybe but, he always left those things out in the open. Even when he had a home office he didn't keep the files stored in there. I had to learn about evil from an early childhood Kal. Rape, murder, corruption and that's just the tip of the iceberg Kal my dad was always a cop first and a father second.

"I am sure that the Barbara I know does not need a white knight to save her because she is perfectly able to save herself whenever she needs to."

That's when she turned around and kissed him.

"Barbara… I'm not perfect in fact I 'm far from it but, I promise I will try to make you as happy as possible in whatever capacity possible."

"Why is it that the people you think you will be the most happy with end up being the people who hurt you the most and it's the people who you least suspect that make you the happiest."

"Who knows? Maybe in some alternate universe you're all happy and carefree but, in this one you're all mine."

"I wish I could believe that there is just an infinite number of universes across time and space all with different versions of me in them but, I think that might be a little to far in fairytale territory for me Kal."

"Like I said it could be or maybe not what matters is what happens here in this universe… between you and me."

That tell-tell hint of scarlet painted her cheeks when she heard those words. Kaldur raised her up upon the kitchen bar with the music of Ed Sheeran providing the perfect back drop for them.

Barbara weaved her arms around his neck as he kissed her. She put her hand on his chest as Kaldur lifted his shirt over his head and threw to the ground while he watched those freckles he loved so much dance in a wide smile upon her face.

She took notice of a new jellyfish tattoo upon his chest and traced it with her finger tip outlining the detail with her nail making Kaldur shiver and tiny goose bumps pop across his skin."

"Barbara?", he groaned out loud.

_And your hearts against_

_my chest_

_your lips pressed to my neck_

_I'm falling for your eyes,_

_but They don't know me yet_

_with a feeling I'll forget_

_I'm in Love now_

She pressed her lips against his neck and ran her tongue over his gills making him grunt trying to hold on to some small ounce of machismo that he thought that he had left in front of her. Which of course he didn't, not with Barbara. His hand were quick and nimble at removing her shirt and only fumbled when his flesh pressed up against hers as he tried to unfasten her bra which she had to accomplish for him.

_I never told her that I liked_

_The way she dances _

_Slightly out of step_

_And pretends she knows the words_

_To a song she's never heard_

He wasn't surprised to see that the freckles ran down her chest and across her stomach. He placed his hand there and watched her shiver at his cold hands.

"Sorry."

"It's okay… they'll warm up soon.", she said pulling him to her and kissing him.

Their lips moved a in slow but, powerful rhythm. With her tongue licking his lips and soon his begging for hers in a slow thrall. His lips eventually descending her chest to capture a nipple between his lips as he lovingly teased her. He could tell by the way her breath hitched in the back of her throat that she loved it.

"Kal… harder… please?", she begged.

Kaldur then gently but firmly bit down on her nipple while grinding his teeth back and forth against her breast as she used her hand to secure him there as if she was afraid he would somehow escape if she didn't. Her Irish accent began to slip more and more as her pleasure increased. She was only able to grunt her overwhelming approval at his actions as he moved from one breast to the other.

He slowly worked his hands around the waist of her jeans after he unfasten them and work them down her legs. She nearly instinctively raised her hips so he could remove the article of clothing. Her hands immediately sought out to accomplish the same goal.

_I don't know when I lost my mind_

_Maybe when I made you mine_

_I don't know when I lost my mind _

_Maybe it was every time _

_That you said, _

_I miss you_

Her jaw dropped in a muted moan as his mouth pulled against her nipple. His hands pulled her to the edge of the kitchen's bar as looped his thumbs into her panties right before he pulled them down. Barbara finding her pink boy shorts falling from her ankles with her bare ass on her own kitchen's bar. She was suddenly frightened about what he would think of the tuff of red hair above her clit until he loving licked at the inside of her thigh in a process that nearly caused her to scream. His tongue was rough and flat against her skin as he continued licking his way to her clit. He made a point of looking up at her from between her legs as he wiggled his tongue inside her licking at her g-spot. That's when she lost it and climaxed all over Kaldur's face while yelling at the top of her lungs. Not giving her time to rest they could both hear the old woman in the apartment downstairs clamoring for the two to keep the noise down while the couple that lived beside her cheered them on with both obviously knowing what was going on behind Barbara's walls without the need of x-ray vision. She twisted her hands in his hair as his tongue once again found that soft spot buried inside of her. Still unable to keep from screaming as she once again climaxed against his mouth. He then started to slowly bring her back down to earth by softly licking her clit

_I'm thinking 'bout how_

_People fall in love in mysterious ways_

_Maybe it's all part of a plan _

_Me I fall in love with you every single day_

_I just wanna tell you that I am_

Barbara breast heaved up and down as her body demanded more and more oxygen. Her hands practically tied to Kaldur's hair. She moaned out loud again as Kaldur traced a stray drizzle of her climax that ran down the inside of her thigh with his tongue. Even the I-phone failed to cover her moans. Kaldur slowly stood up letting Barbara untangle herself from his hair when he pressed himself against her.

"Kal… you're so fucking huge." she admitted overly embarrassed feeling his erection pressing into her.

"We don't have to do anything you don't want to Barbara."

She slowly reached down and began to massage his girth with her hands. With neither able to completely reach around it. She did her best to make him feel just as wonderful as he made her taking extreme pride in herself when he moaned out loud.

"I want you to tell me… I want you to tell me what you want to do to me Kal."

"What?!"

"If you want to fuck me just say so and I will be yours Kal. Just say the word."

"Barbara… I want to… I want to… I want to make love to you because I'm in love with you." he said struggling to stay in control while endure her hand job.

Kaldur pulled her closer to him until her ass was literally hanging off the edge of the bar as she lined him up at the entrance into her body and slowly guided him in with both hands. She stopped him with about a third inside her as he slowly pulled out and pushed in only to the length she held him at making sure not to force anymore of himself into her. The very last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. Beads of sweat falling from their foreheads as they finally made love to each other.

_Kiss me _

_Like you wanna_

_Be loved _

It took over a year a whole fucking year to get to get to this point to arrive at this event. Kaldur didn't want to fuck up, to betray her trust so even as her hands left his erection and wrapped around him, he tried his very best to remember exactly how much she allowed him to enter her without ever passing that limit even when he wanted to bury himself all the way to the hilt inside her.

"Are you about to cum?", she whispered into his ear.

"By the gods I want nothing more!", he breathed back at her.

"I have waited for this for over a year Kal! I want you to cum… I need you to cum for me!"

That's when Kaldur let go. He let go of all the petty bullshit that had plagued him the past year. The feeling of guilt he was not beside Orin during the battle with Darkside. The feelings that he stabbed Grayson in the back for loving Barbara, the invasion that removed him from Barbara's life, the fact that his brother couldn't understand just how much he loved the woman he was with now. He just let it all fall away and climaxed for the woman he loved. Barbara could feel his heat inside her filling her up and he wasn't even halfway inside her. She could feel her grip on his shoulders harden, her nails biting into his skin. She didn't even care when the bar stools hit the floor cause she was already camping down on his girth in the throes of another orgasm as it happen.

"Yes… yes… oh god fucking yes!", she moaned in his ear.

He swept her up in his arms catching her weight as she fell into him. Her whole body shaking as tremors racked her body. All he could do was hold her in his arms as the music finally faded as her I-phone battery died. He picked her up in a fireman's style carry with her head resting against his heaving chest as he carried them to her bedroom.

"12 months, 19 days, and 13 hours." she whispered into his ear.

"What are you talking about Barbara?"

"That's how long it took you to come back. It's how long I waited, how long I had faith that you would come back to me. I wavered but, I never broke."

"I'm sorry it took me so long Barbara.", he said pulling her to him holding her even closer.

"You came back that is all that matters. What does this tattoo mean? It's new isn't it", she said while tracing a man commanding a giant Kraken

"It's a symbol of duty a badge of honor."

"A symbol of what?", Barbara asked still tracing the labyrinthine pattern.

"It's the insignia of the one chosen to be Aquaman."

"Wait?! You're going to be taking Orin's place?"

"I'm going to try my best to fill King Orin's duty as Aquaman."

"He was your father, king, and mentor. I'm sure he would be proud of you."

Kaldur caressed Barbara's head to his chest hoping against hope she was right. Only this time when the rain hit the bedroom window Barbara didn't have tears to match them and Kaldur felt he was exactly where he was meant to be.


	2. Chapter 2

Love.

A simple word is it not yet it's been a word that has captivated poets, confused writers, and even as left dried tongues in the mouths of our greatest speakers since the first time light dared to hit this earth and darkness became light. Still as captivating a bloom that love can become it still has it's thorns and even one prick upon that beautiful blossom may cause war. Have we learned noting from the ill born fate of the poor Montague's and the sadden Capulet's. Are we so doomed from our mistakes that our very soul is damaged beyond all things like redemption? So here we set the scene in the city of fair Gotham were bats fly and birds die. With lovers so true, one an future Oracle for a Joker lies hidden in her deck. The other a prince pronounced a king by the death of his adoptive father only to forsake the crown in the name of love and in doing so endowing the weight of a kingdom on the shoulders of his brother. In post coitus we find our lovers a tangled weave of limbs upon a bed after a year of holding a fragile and breakable peace after the invasion of Darkside. The dull ache between her legs found to be insatiable upon her lovers arrival. So the house of the Bat and the house of Black Manta for now and always enfolded for fair Barbara Gordon and Kaldur'ahm the tattooed warrior from the sea from pure love does spring and set. Two warriors, lovers, and in this world heroes have been set upon the board of fate and we sit back only to merely spectators and observe while we wait. So with no further to do, now the scene is set as our lovers gently awake.

Barbara clutched fumbling at the source of warmth beside her bed _(the key words in that statement was her bed) _only to be perplexed at the definition of harden muscle and a mess of hair until her brain remembered Kaldur's soothing embrace. The blush upon her cheeks so red and warm it was as if her freckles could've become fireflies as her hands moved over his thick and wired frame. A year without your lover may put sex in the awe inspiring category for most of the population of the world but, for her it wasn't that easy, it could only be because of him. He gave her bliss in a way even a flying Grayson couldn't even fathom to achieve. As she stretched her sleep laden limbs her movements couldn't be helped and seemed to stir the Atlantean besides her.

"Morning.", he said hazily.

"I think the sun has to have risen to classify it as morning. Don't you?"

"For someone like me who is more accustomed to the depths of the sea then land the sun, It all seems a little insignificant to me."

"And if it did not rise would you be okay with that Kal?"

"It all depends…."

"On what?", she said as she snuggled into his bare arms and laid her head against his chest.

"Well if the sun failed to rise we would always have this moment."

"And what of the moon?"

"The moon only shines because the sun allows it so if you take away the sun by proxy you're taking away the moon with it."

"So you would really be happy with a world with no light?", she sadly asked feeling a little defeated.

"You may be able to take away the sun even the moon but think of what you have left?"

"What?"

"A skyline that would be illuminated, by billions if not more of stars. Each of them different and unique unto themselves.

She nearly took his question as an opening to a literal philosophical debate until he gently stoked her face with his palm as his thumb gently tracing the dots of her freckles across her face.

"Kal?"

"Yes."

"I want to live in your world for a day, maybe just a day would help me understand how you can always see the positives in the negatives."

"I think I understand but at the same time I feel a little lost.", he admitted.

"It's just… even in a world with no sun nor moon to guide you, you still seem to always find away."

"Not all stars are equal Barbara. Some may only shine or at those rare moments in time out of the billions of stars that have been thrown into that sky one star can give birth to a universe."

She could barely speak cause just hearing those words made her weak. Even the steady thump in Kaldur's chest went up. It was little like pure epinephrine was in their veins. That was the moment and they did everything that they could to hold it.

"When her lips pulled back she asked", Tell me I'm special that I am that one in a billion shot that you want."

"You know you are."

"I just feel so broken… after the team lost Jason then that fucking Darkside invasion… I just don't want to get attached to some one only to get hurt again!"

He spoke the words in his native language but, she understood all the nouns and verbs.

"_You rise I rise, You labor I labor, let go of the idea of all selfish undertones. For you find yourselves at the great precipice where each of you have the chance of achieving something great." _

She pushed him on his back and straddled him. When she started to gently grind her hips, he had remember to mentally thank the deity that matched him with Barbara. When she slowly lowed to bite him on the neck she took her time to gradually increase the pressure. She loved the tingle she got when he would groaned or moaned in her eye, for some reason or another it was one of those mysterious things that turned her on in ways words failed to describe.

"I want to know something Kal."

"I must have missed the day that Bruce thought us that threatening someone with sex was an effective interrogation technique."

"I just wanted to know something, you smartass.", she said playfully biting him harder then usually

"Okay, okay! Your wish is my command my mistress", he said with a chuckle.

For some reason Barbara had a flash of a whole domination aspect of this situation that really turned her on. She never thought of herself as a dominatrix of any kind but, despite the unexpected flame that was lit just now she had to file that away for later use unless she got distracted from her current objective.

"I wanted to know when did you fall in love with me?", she said as she planted kisses all over his abdomen.

It wasn't until she looked up did she see the somber look that was etched across his face. He sat up and kissed her on the forehead then gently started to pepper her face with butterfly kisses before moving lower receiving tiny moans in his ear from her as he playful nipped at one of her breast. Her moans echoing in her tiny bedroom. After a few seconds the audible pop of her nipple leaving his mouth could be heard too.

"Please just a little more.", she coaxed his head back to her breasts. She had simply rewarded him by grinding her hips against his with enough force to make him suckle a little bit harder. The second time his lips made that popping sound all he could was wrap his arms around her and held her.

"You are the most important person in the whole world", he said kissing her heavily. Barbara loved the way his tongue felt when it wrestled with hers. It was as if the two had built a perfect repertoire like two boxers out in the ring sparing even when it over them always pondering at why they are so good at this.

"How do you always seem to know what buttons to press and how hard to press them?", she moaned in his ear.

"I can't give away all of my secrets and techniques", he responded while kissing down her chest.

It had come high time to stop dancing around the situation. Even if the name bit in to them with the venom of a cobra. Kaldur's face became suddenly heavy and somber as he rested his head against her chest. It was time to face the issue.

"Tatiana."

"That Russian smuggling operation we ran with Bruce and Orin?", she needless answered.

_Operation Overboard _

_2200 Hours_

_Gotham Bay_

_Two years before the invasion of Darkside_

"This is Batman com check one two one two."

"We are all here Batman," Orin confirmed.

"Batgirl present."

"Aqualad present."

"Mission Review Orin and Aqualad will disable the freighter while Batgirl provides air support with the Batwing. We are not letting Cobblepot get his hands on those weapons. Batman over and out."

Kaldur activated the stealth function on his suit then he and Orin entered on opposite sides of the bay. Within a time that would even amaze Seal Team Six the two Atlanteans rigged the plastic explosives to the main rudders and BOOM! The freighter was dead in the water. The crew scrambled to see what in the fuck did they hit in the middle of Gotham Bay. That's when Batman dropped from the Batwing's Copilot seat onto the boat and handed over the controls to Batgirl. Batman's plan being the genius that he was knew that if he called this into the Coast Guard or GCPD the weapons would just disappear but, if you blew them up then no one could use them or come along and steal them from GCPD evidence's locker. Batman activated scanner inside his cowl trying to move as fast as possible to find the weapons but what he found horrified him. The freighter wasn't moving guns… they were transporting immigrants for human slavery. When he opened the cargo container he saw at least fifty woman not counting the one that were dead because of the drugs the smugglers used to keep them docile.

"Change of plans!", he said with a animal like growl.

Batgirl hit them with the spot light telling them to surrender after she hear the report over the com.

"Halt you are now in the custody of the, League." her voice boomed from the built in megaphone.

One of the men pissed himself as the others thought that small arms fires could hit her behind one of the most power pieces of Batman's hardware. She mentally made a note to thank Lucius Fox for building the Batwing.

"Final warring… you are now under arrest under the League's Section nine paragraph five agreement with the United Nations. That's when the Batwing was struck with the first of a trio of rockets with diamond tipped warheads. She lost forty-five percent of engine one and that is when she launched the Batwing's counter measures. Magnetic flares popped from the Batwing. Didn't work cause the second diamond tipped rocket still hit the Batwing. The second warhead finished the job the first warhead started as smoke billowed from the left's side main the engine burned out and blew. The Batwing's second set of counter measures fired as the third warhead wavered yet it still hit the Batwing and crippling the aircraft. The Batwing entered into a down word spiral and trying her best as not to hit ship causing mass casualties she put in down in the water. She rarely saw Kaldur move that fast and he was right there on top of her.

"Belt is jammed Kal and the water is pouring in." she screamed over the com link.

"Take a deep breath and don't panic!"

Everyone knew that an Atlantean's strength are only rivaled by the Kryptonians. Living in the depths of the sea as well as dealing with the high pressures that came along with it made the people of Atlantis inhumanly strong. Kaldur pulled at the damaged hatch ripping it open enough to get to her and using his hydrokinesis he formed a knife at the molecular level to cut her safety harness before reaching in and grapping her out of the downed Batwing before the two of them surfaced.

"Take a deep breath! I got you, I got you!"

Barbara tried to calm herself as she choked and coughed as she tried to clear her airway as she surfaced. She held on to Kaldur as he started to swim toward the freighter. When the gunfire erupted over the com he doubled his effort as Barbara tried the coms.

"Batman… Batman… unknown variable has been added. Do you copy? Do you copy", she yelled into the com link. "We have to get a board that ship now Kal!", she said as she turned her head toward him. He could see it in her eyes she was damn near pleading for him to move as fast as possible.

All he could do was nod in agreement. When they boarded that is when they saw one of the few people who could knock an armed jet out the sky never mind the Batwing. Slade Wilson! He had both Batman and Orin held down with Slade's fire from his modified light machine gun.

Kaldur made a split second choice when his and Barbara's feet hit the top deck. He wrapped himself inside a hydrokinetic force field and rushed Slade. Both of them crashed through one of the freighters shut and bolted doors and tumbled down to the lower deck.

Even with all the Kevlar Slade still felt like shit when he was rammed through the door. Even Kaldur with the skin of a shark had to admit that hurt like son a bitch. Even with his head ringing his ears perked up when he heard the sound of Slad pulling back the chamber arming his sidearm.

"I want you to know that those diamond tipped warheads cost me an ornate amount of money and I wasn't even sure they would work so no hard fleelings but, I have to fullfill this contract."

All Kaldur could do while on the ground was attemp a sweep kick to throw Slade off balance. It landed hard and Slade missed his shot by inches. Kaldur quickly replaced his feet back underneath him and twisted Slades wrist and made him drop the 9mm he was using as his sidearm but when Kaldur tried to judo flip him Slade countered and Kaldur ended up against the fall wall. Slade closed the distace and landed a quick combo of punches that left Kaldur with the taste of liquid iron in his mouth. When Slade reset his stance to throw another set of punches as Kaldur closed the distance and landed a flying armbar as he caught Slade's arm. All Slade could do was raise him up and smashed him upon the grated floor of the lower deck. When he tried to slam him again Kaldur transitioned from a armbar to a triangle choke.

"I'm not going to get my ass handed to me from a sidekick.", he choked.

In a act of desperation Slade pulled a pin from a flash bang grenade and held it to his chest. All Kaldur could do take the brunt of the blast as the grenade threw them on opposite sides of the room. Kaldur didn't have on heavy-duty Kevler _(heavy body amour wasn't really in a normal swimmers repertoire) _so he got the worst of it. The smoke burned his lungs the flash made his eyes burn all the while leaving him momentarily blind. Even with a mouth full of blood, his body feeling like he was just hit by a tow-truck, and half blind he remembered his training with Bruce. Training with the Batman tended to stick with you.

"_Don't always count on your powers to save your life even Superman can be brought to his knees when he is fighting the best of tacticians. Secondly there is always a way. If you face a wall understand all of the options available to you. You can go over the wall, under it, even around it. And if all else fails you still have the option of going through! _

If you were to ask him how he did what he did he wouldn't be able to duplicate it nor understand it. Yet Kaldur used his hydrokinetics to shift the fluid in his ears temporarily giving him sonar vision. As he simultaneously clicked his tongue to give him some type of positional awareness.

When he got his bearings on the super villain he charged. Slade was able to roll backwards sending Kaldur flying into the wall again but, the sound left him more able to readjust as he launched himself at Slade again. Kaldur taking in consideration that Slade's chest would be a weak spot like his was able to get the drop on the villain with a blow to the sternum.

"How the fuck…."

"I shifted the fluid in my ears. Echolocation Slade echolocation."

"Smart move kid but, I'm always three steps ahead of you and your merry band of heroes."

Slade hit a button on his belt and a series of explosions rocked the ship and water came rushing in.

Make a choice hero you have just enough time to either bring me in or save the cargo."

"You son of bitch!", Kaldur snarled as he dashed off to the upper deck." "Batman… Batgirl… Orin damn it that flash bang must have fried my com link"

He raced to the cargo containers to find the others. The three of them had to deal with the crew as well as the survivors in the containers.

"Your com's went dead! Are you alright", Batman naturally growled

"A little worst for wear but I'll live"

"What happen with Slade?"

"He is trying to scuttle the ship he made me chose between taking him in or the survivors."

"The Batwing is at the bottom of the bay how do we get them out."

"I already put a SOS out to the Flash and Superman they should be here in seconds.", Batman answered.

That's when they found her… Tatiana was scared and screaming at the top of her lungs when the heroes approached her.

"Stop.", Barbara demanded. "We aren't here to hurt you like the other men were."

She disengaged her cowl and removed it showing the frighten girl she was just a normal girl too. When the girl came from the shadowed cargo box Barbara could feel the anger start to rise inside her. Tatiana was visually pregnant and the fact that blood was running down the inside of her leg only made her worry. Tatiana took only a few steps toward the unmasked Barbara when she fainted.

"She's critical!", Barbara screamed to the rest of the team.

Kaldur wouldn't be able to tell you why he stayed with her. Maybe it was because Superman and Flash had dealt with the situation and had it under control as soon as possible. Then Batman was on the heels of Slade. So standing by his teammate seemed like the best decision he could have made. So there he was in Gotham General's surgical waiting room by her side. After about a hour a downtrodden and defeated doctor gave them the news. Tatiana had lost to much blood and she was to young to be carrying a child anyway. Their bodies simply gave out on each other.

The next thing Kaldur could only recall was stepping between her and the wall she was smashing with her fist. All he could do was try to do was to hold onto her as she thrashed and fought against him raining blow after blow on muscle and bone that had already seen the limit of their abuse tonight but, for her he stood there, for the woman he was falling in love with he took each and ever painful and emotional fueled blow that she delivered. Rage, hate, pain, defeat, shame, guilt all of those emotions rained down upon him in the form of two brutal fist that night.

_The Present:_

Barbara could feel the tears that fell from Kaldur's eyes.

"Why that moment Kal?" she asked through red and watered eyes.

"For once I saw behind someone's mask. Someone who was truly willing to give something more to the cause then a late night, someone who saw this as more then a game. I saw someone willing to share the deepest part of themselves for someone else. Whether or not I knew it or not that's the moment I fell in love with you… That's why I am in love with you.


	3. Chapter 3

The morning sky was painted a poignant hue of grey and black as the day matured around them. Each rolling cloud seemed more threating then the last as each of them hung low over their heads more than ready to yield rain.

"Sometimes the world just seems angry.", she thought privately.

"Barbara?"

"Yeah Kal?"

"You seem… a little checked out."

"No… no. I just can't believe Bruce made you shave your head.", she deflected.

"A tactical disadvantage… that's what he called it right?"

"That's the best reason for a haircut that I have ever heard.", she chuckled.

"You don't miss it do you?"

"Well it does beat the comb over look you'll need in your later years.", she laughed again as she patted his shaved head.

"Really a comb over… and here I thought you would be kind to me in my little blue pill days."

When he saw those freckles of hers light up and heard that special sound of her laughter Kaldur could feel all the weight being removed from his body. A long day of training with Bruce had left him with fresh aches and pains even hours after they had concluded.

The pelting rain started and wrestled Barbara and Kaldur under a random stoop while they were walking down the street. With a stern look to the sky Barbara felt the only real reason she was still able to smile was because she was in the presents of her friend. Trying her best not to focus on all of the negative contemplations that were running through her mind she looked back down toward her cherished companion. Their eyes instantaneously locking on each other's in the small and intimate space. Kaldur could feel the draw to her lips as it pulled him in… slowly melding their lips together as Barbara let a satiated moan escape as Kaldur's lips met hers. Pulling back only for a quick breath she then pressed her lips back against his capturing his bottom lip in her teeth for a slow and seductive nibble.

After all they had to do something until the rain passed.

_The Batcave:_

"It was lovely to see Sir Kaldur'ahm and Miss Gordon again."

"Yes it was.", Bruce answered Pennyworth

"Then might I ask why your mood is so dreadful?"

"Do you know the Atlantean fable of the _Ice Serpent_ Alfred?"

"No Master Bruce… for all the things that my repertory holds it lacks anything close to resembling a history of Atlantean folktales."

"Well let me tell you a story…"

Once upon a time there were was a king who had two sons... both of the boys were constantly at odds with each other all the while vying for the attention and undying love of their father. Both of the boys grew into strong and capable men more than proficient in combat and mastered all forms of Atlantean weaponry. They were warriors in every sense of the word… each eager to prove their worth to the king they called father.

Then one day… it arrived up upon a throne of blood and ice! The Atlantean's took up their arms and fought. One after one each Atlantean fell all while the throne swelled capturing more and more of the Atlantean homeland. The king wanted it dead by any means necessary so the king told his sons to go forth and slay the _Ice Serpent_. Each son saw this as their opportunity to finally grasp the king's adoration. They each prepared and trekked to the throne of the _Ice Serpent._

A great battle ensued and the two brothers even worked together as they fought. Until the serpent was wounded… then the serpent took its true form which was a celestial maiden. One of the brothers instead of killing her protected her by shielding her from his brothers finishing blow. With a little detective work, the Atlanteans had discovered that the _Ice Serpent_ was really a curse laid upon the maiden after she question the deity she had served. Still the blood of all the fallen Atlanteans had to be revenged… that's until it was discovered that the brother who saved her was now in love with her. The consequence of spending every night by her cell mind you. So instead of executing her… she was married and then the two were banished to the edge of the world. Sometime later the king died and the remaining son took the crown. Always bitter about his father's decision he hunted his brother and his wife until one cold night he took his brother's life only after making him watch his wife die.

"That's the broad stokes of it of course.", Bruce ended.

"Well… that's certainly not bedtime story material but, I fail to see the correlation between that story and the relationship between Sir Kaldur'ahm and Miss Gordon.", stated Alfred.

"I will be the first one to admit that there are many interpretations of said narrative but, when you take all of the factors into account then you compare and contrast them… meticulously I might add… then you should arrive at only a few conclusions. And each of those conclusions on no matter the scale have one thing in common."

"Which is?", asked the curious butler and caregiver.

"War Alfred... war!"

_Wildcat's Gym:_

"Tada!"

"…"

"So… what do you think?"

"It's a gym... a smelly one at that", Kaldur answered with a chuckle.

"Princess!", Barbara shouted before giving him a sharp jab in the arm.

"Ouch!", he replied with a smile.

"The gym is just a cover for the base underneath it."

"Really?"

"Yep the gym belonged to a former member of the JSA."

"JSA?"

"Justice Society of America"

"I've done research on them before. They were the precursor to the _League_."

"You at you showing off your book smarts.", she quipped. "Welcome to the _Clocktower_!"

"It's beautiful… just beautiful Barbara."

As Kaldur was about to lean in and kiss Barbara a notepad was shoved in his face with "Who are you?" and "What are you doing with my friend?" written in bold letters upon it. The notepad was held by a girl who was suspending herself upside down from an anchor bolted into the ceiling. Who must have been a master of stealth to get into position without Kaldur's detection.

"Hello Mary", Barbara giggled before continuing. "This is Kaldur'ahm and Kaldur'ahm this is Mary Turner"

_Undisclosed Location: __Belle Reve Penitentiary_

The water was cool upon his face as he exited the small pool in the rec room. He took a towel and wiped his face before taking a deep breath.

"Hey Manta! You got visitors!", a guard shouted from the security balcony.

Manta put on his inmate jumpsuit with his prison's identification number on the back in bold and bright numbers and began to walk to the visiting center.

"Booth number seven Manta!", another guard ordered as he walked in.

As he sat down at the booth he looked across at the two men who came to visit him. He was about to tell them in no uncertain terms to fuck off until one of them began to speak.

"Black Manta correct?"

"…"

"Trust me sir… this is just a small formality.", the other man responded.

"In here they just call me Manta."

"Well Mr. Manta… your king would like an audience with you."

Just then a massive shaped charge ripped through the far wall of the visiting center. While the two men stood up and quickly dispatched the shocked guards.

"This way Mr. Manta."

As the three men walked out of the visiting center and into the courtyard Manta could feel the pressure and wind of a helicopter upon him as he looked up see the aircraft's speedy approach. From the preceding landing to takeoff the three men were in the aircraft in under fifth-teen seconds. The man on the far interior of the helicopter passed headsets down the line first to his partner then to Manta.

"An audience!", Manta replied with an evil smirk. "Well… well I'm looking forward to seeing him too!"


End file.
